One of the reclusive government's senior envoys is heading to New York to see if such an agreement is possible. Previous talks -- which brought North Korea's chief backer China to the table along with South Korea, U.S., Japan and Russia -- fizzled out with little progress.

In a nutshell, North Korea wants U.N.-imposed sanctions to end and wants the U.S. to pull its massive troop presence out of South Korea. Pretty much every other country on earth wants the unpredictable, totalitarian leadership in North Korea to get rid of its nuclear bombs. (The expections, perhaps, are countries that trade nuclear secrets with North Korea, such as Iran.)

Only a peace treaty, the North Koreans say, can revive discussion of denuclearizing the Korean peninsula.